PUBLIC RECORDS CLARIFY TWO UNRELATED CLEARWATER COUNTY CASES
PUBLIC RECORDS CLARIFY TWO UNRELATED CLEARWATER COUNTY CASES
BAGLEY, Minn. — A review of public records clarifies two serious but unrelated cases involving the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office: the crimes committed by former deputy Neil Dolan and the November 2025 officer-involved shooting death of Bagley resident Dennis Hoie.
Dolan was not the deputy who shot Hoie.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified Clearwater County Deputy Noah Hallman as the officer who fired his department-issued handgun during the November 13, 2025 encounter.
According to the BCA’s preliminary account, deputies were attempting to arrest Hoie on outstanding felony warrants when he fled in his vehicle. After the pursuit ended, authorities reported that Hoie fired a flare gun toward deputies. Hallman then fired his handgun, fatally striking Hoie.
The BCA opened an investigation into the shooting. No publicly accessible final investigative report or prosecutor’s charging decision has been located.
Dolan was already serving a prison sentence when the Hoie shooting occurred.
Dolan formerly served as a Clearwater County deputy, Bagley school-resource officer, assistant football coach and Clearwater County emergency-management director. He was arrested following a BCA investigation in 2019 and was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing several young people.
Court records and published reports established that some of the abuse occurred in Dolan’s office at Bagley High School while he was working as a uniformed deputy and school-resource officer.
In 2023, former student Lincoln Singh filed a civil lawsuit against Bagley Public Schools, Clearwater County and Sheriff Darin Halverson. The lawsuit alleges that school and county officials failed to respond adequately to warning signs concerning Dolan’s conduct.
Those assertions remain allegations in a civil case and should not be presented as proven findings unless established by the court or admitted by the defendants.
The case is listed in Clearwater County District Court as Lincoln Singh v. Bagley Public Schools, Independent School District 162; County of Clearwater; and Sheriff Darin Halverson, court file 15-CV-23-316.
A publicly accessible final judgment, dismissal or settlement agreement has not been located.
Clearwater County Board records reveal an earlier development involving Dolan. On October 19, 2021, he requested that the county provide his legal defense and protect him from personal financial liability in an anticipated civil lawsuit.
The County Attorney’s Office determined that Dolan was not entitled to county-funded defense or indemnification. The County Board upheld that determination.
According to the meeting minutes, supporting paperwork was submitted on behalf of the County Attorney’s Office and placed on file. Dolan participated in the proceeding remotely but did not present supporting information when asked.
Those underlying documents were not included with the published minutes. They could help clarify which lawsuit was anticipated, what information was available to county officials and whether insurance coverage was considered.
No publicly available record reviewed for this article identifies a settlement amount or insurance payment connected to the 2023 Singh lawsuit.
Dolan’s former emergency-management position also helps resolve a possible misunderstanding involving the initials “DHS.” His emergency-management work involved Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management, a division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
That agency is separate from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
No public evidence reviewed for this article establishes that Minnesota Human Services, the Bagley clerk-treasurer or the Clearwater County Attorney’s Office participated in concealing Dolan’s conduct. The available record instead shows that the County Attorney’s Office opposed Dolan’s 2021 request for county-funded defense and indemnification.
That decision does not resolve the separate questions raised in the Singh lawsuit about supervision, warning signs or institutional responsibility.
Those questions should be pursued through court filings, internal-investigation documents, insurance records and the supporting materials from the county’s 2021 indemnification decision.
The documented record supports continued scrutiny. It does not support speculation or combining the Dolan case with the unrelated shooting of Dennis Hoie.